A 160 foot long UK-flagged sailboat has sunk off the coast of Palermo, Italy, with seven people still missing after a rescue attempt.
Fifteen people, including a one-year-old child, were rescued by the Italian Coastguard and firefighters in the area.
The vessel is believed to have sunk after a tornado struck in the area. The people on board are believed to have been mostly British with a New Zealander, a Sri Lankan citizen, two Anglo-French and an Irish citizen on board.
Italian news website Il Fatto Quotidiano reported that the vessel sank off Porticello at about 5am local time (4am GMT) on Monday (August 19).
Divers have already reached the hull which is 49 meters deep and about half a mile from the coast, according to the same publication.
Survivors from the boat have been taken to Porticciolo, Il Fatto Quotidiano said in its report.
Another Italian daily, Corriere della Sera, has named the boat as Bayesian.
The Agenzia ANSA news service reported that the search for the seven missing people who were on board the sailing boat that sank at dawn this morning is underway off Porticello.
It said four British, a Canadian and two Americans are missing.
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